Everything about Turbinia totally explained
Turbinia was the first
steam turbine powered
steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in
1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, it was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in
1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships, the majority of which were turbine powered. The vessel can still be seen at
The Discovery Museum in
Newcastle upon Tyne,
England, while its original powerplant can be found at the London Science Museum.
Development
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine in
1884, and having foreseen its potential to power ships he set up the
Marine Steam Turbine Company with five associates in
1893. To develop this he'd the experimental vessel
Turbinia built of very light steel by the firm of Brown and Hood, based at
Wallsend on Tyne.
The
Admiralty was kept informed of developments, and
Turbinia was launched on
2 August 1894. Despite the success of the turbine engine, initial trials with one propeller were disappointing. After discovering the problem of
cavitation and constructing the first
cavitation tunnel, Parsons' research led to him fitting three axial-flow turbines to three shafts, each shaft in turn driving three propellers. In trials this achieved a top speed of over 34 knots (63 km/h), so that
"the passengers aboard would be convinced beyond all doubt Turbinia was Charles Parsons' winning North Sea greyhound".
Demonstration
Parsons' ship turned up unannounced at the Navy Review for
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at
Spithead on
26 June 1897 in front of the
Prince of Wales,
Lords of the Admiralty and foreign dignitaries. As an audacious publicity stunt the
Turbinia, which was much faster than all other ships of the time, raced between the two lines of large ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes with impunity, while easily evading a Navy picket boat that tried to stop it, indeed almost swamping it with its wake.
From this clear demonstration of its speed and power and after further high speed trials attended by the Admiralty, Parsons set up the
Turbinia Works at Wallsend which then constructed two turbine powered destroyers for the Navy,
HMS Viper and
HMS Cobra which were launched in
1899. Although both these vessels tragically came to grief, the Admiralty was convinced. In
1900 the
Turbinia steamed to
Paris and was shown to French officials then displayed at the Paris Exhibition.
The first turbine powered merchant vessel, the
Clyde steamer TS King Edward, followed in
1901 (her successor, the
TS Queen Mary of
1932, is now a floating restaurant on the
River Thames in
London). The Admiralty confirmed in
1905 that all future Royal Navy vessels were to be turbine powered, and in
1906 the first turbine-powered battleship,
HMS Dreadnought, was launched.
Turbinina was cut into two pieces in 1927, but was restored in the 1960s, when she was put on display at Newcastle's Military Vehicle Museum. In 2000, the vessel was the focal point of a year-long £10.7m redevelopment programme at Newcastle's Discovery Museum. The gallery around
Turbinia was the first area to be refurbished with the main part of the work involving raising the roof by one story to create viewing galleries on three levels.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Turbinia'.
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